Hi Fiorentina,
Welcome to your personalized Grit Lab Report!
We will go week by week, reviewing everything you have told us through Poll Everywhere.
We hope this will help you reflect on what you have learned and experienced during Grit Lab.
Important note!
Sometimes, you may not have been able to respond to all polls.
If the data for one of the polls is missing, the automatic report will display NA, or ““.
Okay, let’s get started!
The first half of Grit Lab delves deep intp the passion facet of Grit.
We like to call it Choose Easy, because we think gritty people pursue what they enjoy.
Putting it graphically, gritty people tend to pursue the intersection of these four circles.
The first time we met, you told us where you were on the grit rubric.
Regarding passion you picked Stage 6: I have an interest that is central to my identity. That is, what I do is an important part of who I am .
Regarding perseverance you picked .
As you know, grit grows, so don’t worry if you are not yet where you’d like to be in your grit journey.
Hopefully, this class will help you become grittier each day.
In week 2, we looked at your interests.
Interest is an emotion, and it is the opposite of boredom.
Your interests are the activities or subjects that spontaneously grab your attention.
Trying things out and seeing how you feel is the best way to refine your interests.
In week 3, we studied values, your beliefs about what is important.
You said your top three values were self-direction, universalism, and benevolence.
You wrote a “This I Believe” essay, and here’s where you located it on Schwartz’s value taxonomy.
When we talked about strengths in week 4, you said your personality strength was openness.
You said your top three talents were verbal, artistic / spatial, and social.
We then talked about goal hierarchies.
You said you felt totally clear about your top-level goal.
We discussed self-concordance, or how much a goal aligns to your deeply held values and beliefs.
A goal you said you will be pursuing for the next six months is to graduate .
Here is how self-concordant that goal was:
Don’t worry if your self-concordance for that particular goal is low.
It might mean that you need to reframe that goal in a way that makes it more relevant to your deep self, or change it!
Remember that self-concordance is goal specific, so other goals might be more self-concordant.
We then transitioned to the second part of Grit Lab:
Work Smart
In week 6, we looked at goal setting and planning.
You WOOPed!
For your Wish, what you wanted to accomplish, you said Sleep at least 7 hours for at least 4 days of the week .
For your Outcome, what would happen if your wish came true, you said 3 productive hours in the morning .
For you Obstacle, what it is within you that stands in your way, you said I stay up past 12 thinking I will do work but actually just eff around online .
For your Plan, you created this when-then plan to achieve your goal: When it’s 10:30 pm then I get ready for bed .
Whether you changed your WOOP or stuck to that one, here’s where it landed between being a total fail, and going exactly according to plan.
And here’s how much you learned
These goals are hard, and despite our best efforts, our plans can fail.
The important thing is that you learn something along the way!
In week 7, we talked about deliberate practice.
You shared you’ve done daily practice in flute .
We learned that deliberate practice requires a challenging, hyperspecific goal, maximum concentration, instant feedback, and is often done alone.
In week 8, we discussed feedback.
Even though feedback can be hard to take, it is often the key to improve. So if you want to improve, seek it actively!
You said you felt motivated when receiving critical feedback, and motivated when receiving positive feedback.
We then turned to learning about stress.
In week 9, you reported feeling a lot of stress in your life right now, the primary source of it being school, impending graduation, war .
We also talked about adversity and failure.
Although related, adversity and failure are different:
Adversity happens to us, whereas failure is something for which we are generally more responsible.
However, how we interpret stress and failure matters…
Interestingly, research has found that people who believe that stress can facilitate learning and growth experience enhanced performance, well-being, and health.
And failure—not achieving a particular goal—can be interpreted as “I’m learning!” and lead you to look for the lesson in that experience.
We closed the Work Smart section of the class by talking about habits.
Throughout the semester, you practice habit building using your Build-A-Habit Guide book.
You describe the habit you chose as Something else .
Whether you were successful in habit building or not, this is how much you learned.
Finally, what good is grit if we do not dream for others?
So, we transitioned to Paying it Forward.
In week 10, we looked at mentors: role models that take an active role in your growth.
Hopefully, your mentor was authoritative, being both supportive and demanding.
Here’s how you described them:
You also wrote a gratitude letter to Parent .
In one word, you said it made you feel ashamed .
One way of paying it forward is having a prosocial, beyond-the-self purpose. Here’s how you responded to items assessing that.
… and so quickly we arrived at the end of the semester.
Here’s how your mood varied over these weeks.
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Do you notice any patterns? Is there anything that correlates with your mood?
Here you can scroll through all the quotes you wrote to summarize each class.
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| Grit and talent are malleable. |
| Interest is an emotion. |
| Be like a roomba: back up when you meet an obstacle, pivot, and try again. |
| You are not limited by your "talent" and personality strengths. Effort mattwrs |
| Goals can work better for you when they are harmonious, but that doesn't have to be the case for a good life! |
| When CUE, then ACTION. |
| Deliberate practice entails focus, consistency, and feedback. |
| Seek advice not feedback and leave your ego at the door. |
| Allostasis |
| Make it easier for yourself to succeed by changing your situation, Nike mindset is BS!!! |
| Mentors are role models who take an active role in your life. Proactively find them!! |
| We can live a more meaningful life by giving (in a sustainable way). |
In the final class, we looked back to everything we’ve learned together and to how our passion and perseverance evolved during this class.
Here are the comments from your Grit Lab Teammates:
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| Hannah Zhao |
| Fiorentina, you always have good insights and fun stories! I liked hearing about your passion for writing and all things creative. Like your outfits! Always slaying the fits. You’re a good conversationalist and it was so fun sitting next to you this semester. I wish you the best! 💜
The best part of your Discovery Project was seeing the prototype of your dress! I loved the shape and fit of it on you, as well as the volume of the sleeves. I know it’s going to turn out amazing. Hearing you plan out your dress and get the materials made me excited to see the results, and I was so impressed! I love how you structured your presentation like a story. There was an introduction (Renaissance Era), plot and conflict (pivoting from chiffon and velvet, and taking classes), and then the triumphant resolution (the mock-up). It’s only the beginning of your journey, and I look forward to seeing where you go next!
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| Martina Bulgarelli |
| Dear Fiorentina,
Throughout the semester, your unwavering ability to overcome challenges and pursue your goals, even in the face of adversity, has left a lasting impression. Your dedication and tenacity were particularly evident in the completion of your Discovery Project on the origins of your name. Overcoming obstacles such as difficulty in sourcing materials and the unfortunate incident of having your sewing machine stolen, you remained steadfast in your commitment to the project. Your ability to find creative solutions in the face of adversity showcases a level of resilience and determination that is truly inspiring. Moreover, your presentation on the origins of your name was fascinating. I was especially captivated by the connection you drew between your name and its meaning, sparking my own interest in exploring the origins of my name.
Beyond your academic accomplishments, I am grateful for your consistently positive attitude and your willingness to assist others. Your active participation in discussions, coupled with your enthusiasm and insightful contributions, enrich our learning environment. Your extraordinary commitment to supporting classmates goes above and beyond. I vividly remember numerous occasions where you patiently clarified tasks or gave me advice related to life outside the classroom. |
| Justin Han |
| Hi Fiorentina!
I had a lot of fun being in your group this past semester. First off, congrats on graduating! I hope you have exciting plans after graduation. I admire your dedication to both the project and the class. I noticed how you would actively be asking question to Prof. Duckworth even during the class breaks. The insights you had to provide were always meaningful and articulate. I had a lot of fun during our conversations and always felt comfortable, so thank you for that.
Your project was crazy good. It was so apparent that everyone in the class was admiring the work that you done with the dress. It was really cool to see how you were able to pursue a project so personal but also something that expanded past your comfort zone. I thought the project turned out great, and it would be such a cool story to tell other people in the future. |
We hope you have emerged from Grit Lab a little grittier than you started.
Do you want to see how your grit rubric changed?
Drumroll please…
Don’t worry if the rubric doesn’t yet reflect growth. It is only a coarse measure that cannot replace your own self-reflection.
In any case, grit is not built in a day…
…remember that progress is never smooth…
…so stay passionate and persevering in the lifelong quest of choosing easy, working smart, and paying it forward.
With grit and gratitude,
Angela and the Grit Lab team.